Germany has the 4th largest losses in Afghanistan, after US, UK, Canada, but more than Spain, Poland, Rumania, Czech, Netherlands, France or Italy.

Members of our parliament, who didn't want to be named in public, told serious journalists, we are in Afghanistan, because, and only because our most beloved ally, who didn't care about our opinion of the war in Iraq, doesn't care about our opinion about torture, and who has kidnapped two inhabitants of our country, tortured them and released them without ever giving a convincing cause for the kidnapping, wants it. Still 200,000 people in Berlin were willing to applaud the most likely next president of this ally.

What do we have to do to count as a strong link in the Western alliance? Letting people jump from towers like the Russian zar, on behalf of imperator George II? Sending our people as slaves over the atlantic?

However, may I should take it simply as compliment, that we are "one of the weaker links".

Gemach, gemach